Question:easy
Fracture at which site will affect the longitudinal growth of the bone?
Fracture at which site will affect the longitudinal growth of the bone?
Show Hint
Length is added at the cartilage plate between epiphysis and metaphysis; the shaft only grows in width.
Updated On: Jun 22, 2026
- Epiphyseal plate
- Epiphysis
- Metaphysis
- Diaphysis
Show Solution
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Frame the question around bone development.
Two kinds of bone growth: Length comes from endochondral ossification at the growth plate, while width comes from appositional (intramembranous) growth at the periosteum of the shaft. A question about longitudinal growth therefore must point to the growth plate.
What the growth plate is: The epiphyseal plate is a disc of hyaline cartilage sandwiched between the epiphysis and metaphysis. Its zones - resting, proliferating, hypertrophic and calcifying - continuously add cartilage that is replaced by bone, pushing the bone end away and lengthening the bone.
Effect of a fracture there: If a fracture (Salter-Harris type) damages these cartilage zones, the plate may fuse early or unevenly, giving growth arrest, shortening or angulation. This is why physeal injuries in children need careful follow-up.
Why not the others: Epiphysis $\rightarrow$ joint/articular cartilage. Metaphysis $\rightarrow$ remodelling zone of new bone. Diaphysis $\rightarrow$ shaft, widens not lengthens.
Hence the site whose fracture impairs longitudinal growth is the epiphyseal plate (option A).
Two kinds of bone growth: Length comes from endochondral ossification at the growth plate, while width comes from appositional (intramembranous) growth at the periosteum of the shaft. A question about longitudinal growth therefore must point to the growth plate.
What the growth plate is: The epiphyseal plate is a disc of hyaline cartilage sandwiched between the epiphysis and metaphysis. Its zones - resting, proliferating, hypertrophic and calcifying - continuously add cartilage that is replaced by bone, pushing the bone end away and lengthening the bone.
Effect of a fracture there: If a fracture (Salter-Harris type) damages these cartilage zones, the plate may fuse early or unevenly, giving growth arrest, shortening or angulation. This is why physeal injuries in children need careful follow-up.
Why not the others: Epiphysis $\rightarrow$ joint/articular cartilage. Metaphysis $\rightarrow$ remodelling zone of new bone. Diaphysis $\rightarrow$ shaft, widens not lengthens.
Hence the site whose fracture impairs longitudinal growth is the epiphyseal plate (option A).
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